Question: If the sales tax in your city is $9.5\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$42$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Solution: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${9.5\%} \times {\$42} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $9.5\%$ is equivalent to $9.5 \div 100$ $9.5 \div 100 = 0.095$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.095$ $\times$ $$42$ = $$3.99$ You would pay $$3.99$ in sales tax.